1919, pictures a very different stage in the development of
the revolution from that which would be found by observers
today.


The prolonged state of crisis in which the country has
been kept by external war, while strengthening the ruling
party by rallying even their enemies to their support, has had
the other effects that a national crisis always has on the
internal politics of a country. Methods of government which
in normal times would no doubt be softened or disguised by
ceremonial usage are used nakedly and justified by necessity.
We have seen the same thing in belligerent and non-revolutionary
countries, and, for the impartial student, it has
been interesting to observe that, when this test of crisis is
applied, the actual governmental machine in every country
looks very much like that in every other. They wave
different flags to stimulate enthusiasm and to justify
submission. But that is all. Under the stress of war, "
constitutional safeguards" go by the board "for the public
good," in Moscow as elsewhere. Under that stress it
becomes clear that, in spite of its novel constitution, Russia
is governed much as other countries are governed, the real
directive power lying in the hands of a comparatively small
body which is able by hook or crook to infect with its
conscious will a population largely indifferent and inert. A
visitor to Moscow to-day would find much of the
constitutional machinery that was in full working order in the
spring of 1919 now falling into rust and disrepair. He would
not be able once a week or so to attend All-Russian